[000:00:00;00] live . islamic militants threaten to carry out more terror attacks in retaliation for the french campaign in mali accusing barrett of a crusade. the german coalition government failed an important test just months ahead of the national parliamentary. angle of merkel's christian democrats lose ground to the social democrats opposition in regional elections. and israel prepares for its own parliamentary poll on tuesday we report on why many in the country are growing increasingly frustrated with the policies of the party that

is set to win. and i welcome you watching r.t. live from moscow with me tree farm now our top story the islamic terrorist cell allegedly responsible for the deadly siege in algeria says france is carrying out a crusader campaign in the region thirty eight hostages were killed after militants captured a remote gas plant in retaliation for the ongoing french intervention in neighboring mali is millis claim they wanted to negotiate the release of their captives but the offer was turned down with the algerian military deciding to storm the facility causing a bloodbath more terror attacks have now been promised unless france ends its campaign in west africa some of the hostage takers were militants from libya where

paris helped islamised topple colonel gadhafi who had warned of an impending al qaeda surge in the region as poly boy now reports that very very. few wanted peace you wanted freedom you wanted economic progress france great britain europe will always stand by the libyan people. but a regional crisis probably wasn't what mr sarkozy anticipated when he was spearheading the military operation to topple moammar gadhafi although the former french president can't say that he hadn't been warned personally i play a significant role in establishing peace in those regions of africa should the situation in libya be unstable al qaeda will establish its rule bin laden will return and libya will be another afghanistan the terrorists will flood to europe cut to paris and almost two years later markets after his words could well be ringing in the years of need while i sarkozy's successor francois hollande having

just sent troops to mali france's new leader could well be learning that every action has a reaction. secu so not only did the french intervention in libya not help the democratic process which is what they said they were after but it is fact if it opened up the floodgates for weapons stockpiles and fighters to leave the country and go solve a lot of this new more to mali where the recently deployed french military were reportedly stunned by the technologically advanced weapons that are in the hands of their adversaries nobody seems to think that perhaps organized groups come from somewhere other than mali it seems they came across the nearby libyan border libya is as i say central to all this problem because all the plot of weapons it's been produced by the collapse of the darfur region but also a complete failure to establish any kind of real state you have essentially all the operating in different parts of libya and you have across much of this hour

a situation where people have arguments for vengeance of extenso bribery and corruption order grabs is common place gadhafi was bitter opponent all right it was ahmed groups whatever his faults and they now have the ability to use the chaos in libya to provide the basis the fast effects for immediate hostage crisis in algeria said to be in retaliation for the french offensive in mali has already claimed the lives of dozens of civilians taken captive i'm frightened of terrorism this is always been a problem for france whether it's iraq or sarkozy this is just a i'm french i was born here and live here my culture is french my origins are there and i was there like another country telling me. you know we're scared of anything that threatens us. france's global allies are showing signs of being sucked into the mali conflict prime minister david cameron has already acknowledged

that battling radical insurgency in the region could take decades rather than months and all this so that france can remedy the knock on effects. from its libyan intervention polyploid can see how rice. well early and my colleague in isa now we spoke with the former u.k. ambassador to algeria graeme and he says the killing of several british hostages isn't enough to dissuade london from helping the french intervention the united kingdom will continue to support the french intervention i imagine that the british government will also want to support our friends in algeria in any way that they might ask mr. david cameron has said that the fight against islamic terrorists in north africa could take decades can britain really afford to get involved like they did in afghanistan which i should mention of course started out with george bush

saying that we would be in and out. well politicians tend always to say we'll be in and then we'll be in sync mr cameron knows that this will take time i don't imagine that he is thinking of committing british ground troops to north africa but there's a lot we can do in terms of intelligence technology logistics i think it does have to be done the question really is how can we afford not to. there was the thought that france went in because of possible uranium resources there what is britain's interests than. well i think britain's interest is in having stability on the on the if you like the southern florida flank of no two just across the mediterranean from from western europe. i don't accept these conspiracy theories about minerals i think it's really about knowing that we have we have stable neighbors stable neighbors but at the same time britain openly backs rebels who are known to

have sort of attachments to al qaeda and other is islamist groups there so where then is the consistency. what rebel groups of those in syria. yes yes well if i say read anything at all more of a geo political in terms of security and not resources so where then why yes in syria no in syria in mali well i think it's a different story this is not. an al-qaeda linked islam a stop arising in syria it's ordinary people who want a different life they want to be rid of a tyrant. outside in charge of them and this will solve itself apparently without any intervention from the outside i think the story in mali is completely different this is

a foreign intervention by the al-qaeda linked terrorists themselves this is not honest molly ivins trying to change the government the political analyst john walker lindh says western countries support islamic one hundred geo political interests to do. i greatly enjoyed the ambassador's. discomfiture when you put him that question i mean he doesn't have an answer and the western governments do not have an answer to the question of it which is to say why do we support islamic or islamist rebels in syria and yet send troops into crush islam it's rebels in mali there's no way of squaring the circle these are simply double standards for the by the same token why do we support last year the secession of south sudan but we suddenly send in troops to prevent the secession of north mali these are political decision we are taking political decisions on the

basis of our political vision and our friends and enemies and that's the reason why we do one thing in syria and the other thing in mali and as for encouraging stability i mean that really does take the cookie to say that you know we have practically the whole of the middle east including north africa in turmoil we have supported we the west have supported the great uprisings of the arab spring only to find that they the regimes they have produced have an important islamic element these are conundrums which the west has not solved than is not solving it is on the contrary making matters worse german chancellor angela merkel is coalition has suffered a blow ahead of the parliamentary election later this year they've been defeated in a key regional vote losing by one seat in lower saxony the disappointing result potentially puts merkel in a vulnerable position ahead of september's general election in which she seeks to win a third term in office artie's peter oliver now reports on the fragile support for

the german leader both at home and abroad. thirteenth setback in local elections that angle merkel's christian democrat party and their coalition partners the free democrats have suffered it's also more importantly the fifth the fifth state government which they've lost to the social democrats since two thousand and nine this vote in lower saxony which is the fourth most populous state in germany it seemed very much as a bellwether of opinion and it was incredibly tight well it was by one seat and what it does mean though even by the smallest of margins the social democrats well they smell blood heading into the general election their candidate for the chancellorship steinbach said this well this shows that a change of government and power is possible this year what's interesting when you look at this particular particular local election is the euro zone debt crisis really didn't come into it this was

a local election where people were voting on local issues now it's in that area where mrs merkel is starting to show some weaknesses as it were and her christian democratic party and their coalition partners but she still has this personal appeal as the leader because of what she's done for the eurozone crisis but of course that isn't mirrored when you look around the rest of europe particularly in countries like greece where we've seen current in effigy and even compared to adult hitler because the greek people they see angela merkel as the main person behind the austerity that they're having to live through so her popularity abroad personally isn't particularly great when it comes to the eurozone crisis however germans are happy with the way that she's managed this crisis and managed germany's economy throughout it but as i say it's going to come down to whether she can convince the german people that she's the right person to manage german interests

at home as well as those abroad whether she can win not third term towards the end of this year. well across the atlantic another leader has been setting out a second to stool with barack obama having delivered a speech on the next four years of his presidency we will look at whether he can live up to his promises in a few minutes. plus hungry for profits why investment bank is being blamed for forcing up food prices for everyone else the details coming up. georgian president mikheil saakashvili military police have been accused by prosecutors of using a very unusual weapon to control members of the government a weapon so unusual that history great villains wouldn't even touch it that weapon was almost sexuality the georgian prosecutor's office claims

a network of gay spies was set up to seduce certain politicians in order to surveil them and blackmail them the gay spies would tempt men in the government into going back to their apartments which were filled with hidden cameras and microphones to record information and create a not safe for work video to be used to put pressure on these officials this is truly one of the most unique and kind of gross weapons of political intrigue i've ever heard of i mean how many men in georgia politics could possibly fall into the spy trap you know if he actually did implement this scheme and it actually worked than machiavelli and von bismarck could have a thing or two to learn from president saakashvili but that's just my opinion. hello welcome back now with a general election looming in israel polls predict there will be little change to

the makeup of the country's parliament for cash promising the return of prime minister benjamin netanyahu the right wing likud party leaving many voters apathetic and disillusioned artie's porous layer reports. the countdown has begun but instead of scanning the papers to brush up on who's saying what in the final hours before his radios head to the polls. is searching for an apartment the twenty eight year old is desperate to move out of his parents' home but times are tough and he blames the government right i'm not going to vote i see who are the candidates and there is no one standing who represents me or who can change the general mood in the country at that or the recent political justing that's all candidates move from one party to another in joost even more pessimism in people like musharraf who have lost trust in israeli politicians the union between bibi netanyahu and his foreign minister avigdor lieberman into biederman government the return of leave me former opposition leader back into the fray just

a few months after announcing her time and only frustrated and already election where we public many israelis don't believe that the present politicians of the parties. have any really new solutions to the big problems facing israel security spirit economic issues. but among all the uncertainty one thing is certain for the disenchanted voters and it can work and i also feel like the outcome is pre-determined everyone knows not and you know who is going to win for them or the apathy based on the belief that netanyahu will almost certainly when has led experts to worry about the state of his way to democracy. there are some populations designing these really society if you take the settlers or the truth dogs or the presenters that turns out the vote is very high it's above eighty on the other hand when you look at the middle class the youth and the arabs the

percentage is around sixty. and those figures only help netanyahu and his allies of course there are parties who are ready to oppose the government's policies one of their merits boasts that a vote for them is a secure vote against netanyahu and a leadership that will destroy israel first of all are is a lation the war will continue. there will be no solution to the palestinian problem in the economic and social gaps between rich and poor we'll get to march why they're in deeper but merits is expected to win only around five percent of the votes in a record field of fifty four parties that are running in these elections netanyahu is party is expected to get only about a quarter of the seats in the parliament but with other political forces being shattered into rival factions this is still going to be enough for him to continue in power the coalition effort on yahoo is expected to build would have a very slim majority but it would still give him the mandate he needs to map out

this country's next four years but the paradox of the selection is that the candidate sic to when is not particularly liked by most of the country policy r.t. tel aviv's. and the executive director of the one voice movement that is calling for a two state solution says the netanyahu government has failed to address many of the country's key problems. now to now find themselves leading a party of offering a very platform actually no platform at all but they have not presented a program a party program to address a lot of the issues that are concerning israeli citizens from the left and the right and are dividing them and when you think about the prospects for this government leading policy of more settlement expansion and indeed even annexation of the occupied territories in the west bank i think that it would lead not only to a growing pressure in friction with the united states and president obama with the

european union and with the palestinian population but it will also lead to a growing disappointment in the israeli public that. it is still supporting and i believe will still support. it and appalled its right to peace and security which can only be manifested and realized through the two state solution and we will be closely watching these really elections all day on tuesday bringing the recovery choose well as in-depth exploration of the sheep of israel settlements with a twist. i'm here with some investors from england. over here to show you where to buy property in this area in the north jewish boy. not yet know it exists a. distinct solution. for those about to. all of us is. that barack

obama is officially celebrating the start of his second presidential term even as some key promises from his last four years in the white house is still ringing a little hollow former u.s. senate foreign policy adviser james just trust told us how a bomber has so far failed to step away from the controversial global strategies of the bush era. i don't think they're much better but they're not much worse either i think the main thing that characterized mr obama's first term was continuity with the bush legacy most notably for example in the intervention in libya i think the real question is is will there be a shift in his second term in line with what he said today for example will we back away from potential confrontation or in military involvement in syria will we back away from confrontation with iran and will we withdraw the missile deployment system on russia's western borders there are things that he can do to radically

shift in his second term away from that bush legacy what a bomb his first four years showed he wasn't by failing to keep some of these pledges. questions if it's a trend that he's had to stay. it's generally thought that his second term six u.s. president on walks those handcuffs that kept them from doing great things in their first term because they had to think about getting reelected all the time in the last four years we've heard many times president obama's hands are tied on this issue word that issue suppose this election has on tied his hands we don't have a crystal ball to tell you what he's going to do with those three presidential hands but we may already see signs of what is to come president obama steps into his second term carrying a heavy load of promises along with the pledge the threat of another devastating war in the middle east for four years president obama pushed to a great extent by israel has to

a war with iran i will take no options off the tape and what i see. some believe the appointment of chuck hagel as defense secretary who is known to have been against the strike on iran may be a sign that the new obama administration will be less warmongering towards the bridge but two of the country's leading middle east experts orange convinced vision i would bet a certain amount of money we will hear the words all options are on the table come out of his come out of his mouth in addition to the point that we have the appointment of john brennan at the cia who i think is someone who the israelis are just fine with who will continue many of the covert programs of course or drone program but many of the covert programs that would be under his under his authority at the cia that will be very much to israel's liking that will serve to undermine any attempts or any possibilities for. coming to terms of the islamic republic of

iran john brennan has been in charge of president obama's targeted assassinations program is a point of push the notorious war on terror in a different perspective and shows that it's far from over they want wars that will not redound against them at home politically so they don't want any more body bags they don't want more american troops. to the extent they want to prevent that they want to have all the soldiers sitting in alexandria virginia or los angeles or whatever and running the brony that are killing people whether it's afghanistan or yemen or iran or you know were else however over the next four years the administration's reach will extend far beyond the middle east as it is said to continue its pivot to asia as well as building a missile shield provocatively close to russia's borders last year in a hot mike moment president obama told russia's made that even if that in his second term he'd be more flexible to discuss not so much surface.

but it could turn out to be flexibility to words only president action if. russia is still at it we opposed to it still sees it as as a symbol just going to go ahead really while president obama may have more control over foreign policy domestically there is a greater chance of his agenda getting bogged down in congress like gun control and the executive orders are useless and registrar your proposals and i suspect will not pass in this country and i don't think it's in the offing anywhere in the near future because we are a culture that is very deeply. in love with our guns but in the last four years congress more than was attempted to sabotage the president on key economic issues including reaching a last minute deal as the country teetered on the edge of fiscal cliff is huge when presidents who have trouble with congress like to do international things because they have to worry about congress much less the president's actions so far have

show little possibility that in the next four years he will be any more flexible on major foreign policy issues as far as is the mess that could genda many doubt whether he's never ending battle with congress will allow him to move significantly beyond inspiring speeches in washington i'm kind of. more of the world news now and the trial of five indian men for the brutal rape and murder of a woman last month begins in delhi if convicted they could face the death penalty the sixth suspect he's under age will be tried in a juvenile court in december the twenty three year old female and a male friend boarded a bus where they were attacked by six men in an ordeal lasting several hours the victims were dumped by the side of the road the attack sparked nationwide protests over widespread violence against women in india. a taliban raid on the traffic police headquarters has left three police officers and at least five terrorists

dead the battle between insurgents and security forces lasted over nine hours it is the second raid in the afghan capital in the past week week and comes amid attempts by the u.s. and afghan government to try and engage the taliban impeached talks. for a while is charismatic leader hugo chavez will soon return to his rule to rule his country says vice president nicolas maduro according to migiro the president is recovering well and gaining strength following a severe asperity infection after cancer surgery in cuba a long serving leader has yet to be sworn in for his third term as his inauguration date was disposed indefinitely due to his extensive health problems. good times goldman sachs staff the investment giant are reported to be getting a significant salary boost but a lot of that money has been made is on the back of surging food prices which are leaving many around the world starving nearly my colleague in asia now we spoke to r.t.

alexey. who has been looking into the matter. if it has been going on for many years now but this latest controversy is definitely making this discussion even more fueled now the employees of goldman sachs investment bank are in for some happy times their salaries have reportedly been raised and almost half a million dollars worth of annual bonuses are to be paid out all because in twenty two of the company made about four hundred million dollars from investing its clients' money in a range of products known as soft commodities such as weed and maize to coffee and sugar but what's good for bankers is damaging the global food situation say experts and many claim major investment players are contributing to a global food emergency the united nations warned that the world could be on the brink of a major hunger crisis this year after poor harvests in the united states and ukraine food prices already surged last summer with cereals hitting a record high in september last year food cost sixteen percent higher than in twenty ten and more than twice as expensive as

a decade ago even after adjusting for inflation with almost a billion people already starving such a forecast could make things catastrophic worse and the latest controversy with goldman sachs has once again reignited the debate on what actually stands behind the hike in food prices organizations like food watch say they are not the only ones financial players around the world bear a large part of blame by investing astronomical sums of money into food stuffs and speculating on the prices to make big profits in the last three years alone speculators have poured in as an extra hundred billion u.s. dollars into the sector and that is expected of driving prices even higher investment and central banks deny this saying futures trading is a. borton for farmers and their bets have no effect yet the prices. bear scant resemblance to the natural growth in demand for food moreover they're already creating grounds for instability sparking protests and demonstrations for instance in several african countries including working faster and senegal bakers went on

strike recently because of an eighty percent increase in the price of wheat so if this trend continues people will be unable to afford basic staple foods and if further harvest suffer too it's not hard to imagine the consequences for the world's hungry that is coming up to help us ten here in the russian capital and in just a couple of minutes our business team brings you the latest developments coming out

of the annual world economic forum in davus. it's. played. live. i've. led.